I borrowed his brightness and used it to see my way, and then gradually, from the habit of looking at the world as he illuminated it, the light in my own mind rekindled.

To know a man's library is, in some measure, to know a man's mind.

A book is more than the sum of its materials. It is an artifact of the human mind and hand.

There are always a few who stand up in times of communal madness and have the courage to say that what unites us is greater than what divides us.

She was like a butterfly, full of color and vibrancy when she chose to open her wings, yet hardly visible when she closed them.

I'm a praying atheist. When I hear an ambulance siren, I ask for a blessing for those people in trouble, knowing that no one's listening. I think it's just a habit of mindfulness.

The brave man, the real hero, quakes with terror, sweats, feels his very bowels betray him, and in spite of this moves forward to do the act he dreads.

It is human nature to imagine, to put yourself in another's shoes. The past may be another country. But the only passport required is empathy.

Book burnings. Always the forerunners. Heralds of the stake, the ovens, the mass graves.

Who is the brave man--he who feels no fear? If so, then bravery is but a polite term for a mind devoid of rationality and imagination.

You go on. You set one foot in front of the other, and if a thin voice cries out, somewhere behind you, you pretend not to hear, and keep going.

Just because a marriage ended didn't mean that it hadn't been happy at times.

When you come from a family of storytellers, you're doomed. You just have to tell stories.

The dangerous thing about hate is that it seems so reasonable.

All you do is get on and start pedaling . . .

Every time you do a project, you learn something new.

I was arrested three times and tortured once.

When you feel lousy, puppy therapy is indicated.

Unless you're completely exploded, there's always something to be grateful for.

I've been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly.

The secret to winning is constant, consistent management.